Retard gauge



Nov. 18, 1930. o, w, H'Elsg 1,781,814

RETARD GAUGE Filed Nov. 21, 1927 PatentedNov. 18, 1930 the gau eniovement rr LHE anemone C NN G Q iiTQ- i SsiGNoRi cows m m A's'n' cnomHANCOCK 1 W R 1 when we: 1

coMr NY,,INc.., on, 20315,; N. n, eloon-PoRATIoN or DELA- This inventionpertains to, pressuregauges and more particularly to gaugesfofvthe wetard type, an early example "of which isdisclosed in the patent; toLoepsinger, IZNO; 1,189,706, July 4 1916. r

- S far asisknOWntO me, all retard gauges as heretofore constructed haveseoured the retard-efi'ect by interfering with-the normal operationof-the pressureresponsive element gins at the-properplabe, andrepetition of this process reaching the. desired-nccurtoy slow andexpensive, and for arious reasons inayhave to be repeated atintervalsvduring thelife of the gaugeI the above difiiculties in"Calibration'leresub? stantmlly overcome While. at the s -Jme tnne tlre op'er-atingstrains ere-f distributed "unifamily overthe entiregauge'Zjinechflhisinfi The Bow-don I tube .alrdgztuge movement are ofstandard patte'rn{thefietztrd effeet ishP- plic-able to'existing gaugesnierely' byclmng-Y ingzthe old dial-for a new one, aindsubsequentfchange in or adj ustment of the 5 ret'zird pert may be made withoutlllOdlfiCBiiOlifOf'thB' gauge 'mov'emene disassembling the "letter, orremoving the "dial and index".

While desirable e'rnbodinieiit 1 the vention {is herein illustrated 'by'Wily of ex efieet by 7 cans other than disclosed herein?"letha -dra in sFig. 1 'isa front elevation of a' pressure device; showing theiiidexfoperating under normal pressure condition certain parts of) beinnd cated in dotqshoi ving the r v, ry ri ii tfi l d theig n tl offldJHStIDBDt; This mode of calibration is s 'ii thus m r i by t QPPf ISdaermi lndex p t o see; w

v 7 ,igia tslr a}; ele .fati on (if-the srinie' gauge'q;

at the j upper or retard Fig '3 fa fraginentiry sectionsubstantheabutment arni I end e-ei ei e1 evation illustrating the retard V to bothpressure and Yacuum '7 g I 7 showing laiifariajngement for-'1 obtainingsuc'cei'ssivelyv greater ret a rdation.v

Referring to the drm rings the numeriil c1 designzttesthelouter case ofa, pressure u e u m y. al' in t i b m,

hevi gl the stern v 2fthe' pressure resp'onsive element 3 (whichis hereindicated asfa, Bourtub'e) the iisuja'lj g g'e movement 4 which 7 g I I;j 5M Qin'crements of pressureup'to-thefpoint 9 -Ii1- accordance wlth the-.present iiwention;fv

su I iA 11 m.- sub ant a ly 'radialc with re? spect th 10 nter ofthgaugeandftheline I 9; iiien t 10 disposed This] abutment I or fforrnsmer jleidfpprr hoseopposite endis fixedly secured tot'he dial 7 by ranstetstud or'rivet 12. While I this 'fornfof yielding abutment is erysimf iFum e dr abl g'ljcontem iat that 'rm i f-v s tmem; may beinvention. c

As.v t e Press re substituted therefor Within lcQfieiofi the-rises,,j.the indezi 6Y moves Ithe zero pointg and along the scade 8.1n" accordanoe 'with' thenor'mal change Q fi ti ie of he tube u he theindeX needle for pointer coinesintogoontact W2 i??? lferi iand y Pr j ig i-abu' en member -10'gjtsjf th mo m n s bppti ie d h j l te an ub qent se in res-ii of the Bourdon tube and the spring finger 11. Themovement of the needle or index is thus slowed down so that amuchgreater increase in pressure is necessary to produce a correspondingincrement of movement of the needle than is true before the needle comesinto contact with the abutment 1.0. Thus, in accordance with usualpractice in retard gauges, a small portion of the scale adjacent itsupper end maybe used for indicating along range of pressures, while thelower part ofthe scale is open and clearly indicates small variations inpressure.

It should be noted that-the abutment 10 is supported solely by the. dialand has no direct connection with the Bourdon tube or gauge movement, sothat it may be applied to existing gauges merely by riveting the re-.silient arm ll to the existing gaugedial or by substituting a new dialhaving such a spring finger attached to it. In attaching the springfinger to the dial the only care necessary is to cause the abutmentmember 10 to lie radially opposite the point 9 in the scale at which theretard action is intended to begin, and even after the spring finger hasbeen secured to the dial it may be adjusted to this position bybendingthe arm 11 slightlyin the necessary direction by use of a pair ofpliers or other suitable tool.

Not only is this new' retard arrangement advantageous from thestandpoint of ease of application and adjustment, but it also imposesless strain upon the gauge mechanism.

than the usual type of retard device, since it acts through the longleverage afforded by the pointers and the pinion and sector of the gaugemovement, to oppose the action of the Bourdon tube, and the strains arethus distributed equally throughout the mechanism. V

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modified structure in which the gauge case 1having'the usual interior mechanism is provided with theindex 6 and thedial plate'7 This dial plate has a scale 8 ha-vingcoarse graduationsextending from the zero point to the line 9; From this point to thepoint 9 the graduations are finer, corresponding to greater incrementsof pressure, and from the point 9 to the upper end ofthescale thegraduations are still finer corresponding to even larger increments ofpressure. At the opposite side of the zero point of the scale othergraduations are provided as indicatedat 9, such graduations beingarranged "to show vacuum pressures.

In this instance the stud or rivet 12f carries two spring fingers 11 and11 respectively,

provided at their ends with forwardly directed abutments 10 and. 10 Theabutment rivet or stud 12 to which one end of a spring abutment 10,whereupon its motion is retarded, and as the pressure increases thepointer indicates relatively large increments of pressure along theportion of thesc'ale between the lines 9 and 9. When the pointer reachesthe line 9 it engages the abutment 10 which adds its yielding resistanceto that of the abutment 10*, thus further slowing down the movement ofthe needle as the latter travels over the upper end of the scale.

On the other hand, if the pressure drops below the zero point, theneedle engages the yielding abutment 10 and in traveling over theportion 9 of the scale indicates vacuum pressures. l 7

While I have here shown the abutment member as engaging the index end ofthe pointer, it is obvious that it might be ar ranged to engage theopposite end of the pointer or some other element moving with the indexstaff. Furthermore, while this abutment is SllOWliflS carried by asubstantially straight spring arm, I contemplate that the shape of thisspring arm may be variediii accordance with circumstances and that ifdesired a coiled type of spring may be employed, instead of, thestraight spring arm shown. (I also contemplate that the abutment elementmay be supported at a point outside of the scale and by somepart of thegauge casing, rather than the dial, if circumstances shouldwarrant'doing so, although I regard it as desirable to havethis abutmentconnections for transmitting movement of thepressure' responsive elementto the index,

and yielding means cooperable directly with the index, after apredetermined movement thereof for retarding further movement of.

the index.

2. A retard pressure gauge having a pressure responsive element, amovable index, connect ons for transmitting movement-of the pressureresponsiveelement to the index,

1 and a yielding element disposed in the path ofthe index and'engageableby the index after a predetermined movement of the latter, thereby toretard further movement of the index. f 3

3. retard pressure gauge'having a pressure responsive element, a movableindex, connections for transmitting movement of the pressure responsiveelement to the index, and a spring finger disposed in thev path of theindex and engageable by the index after a predetermined movement of thelatter for retarding further movement of the index.

4. A retard gauge having a graduated dial, a movable index in front ofthedia-l and cooperating with the latter to indicate pressure, an indexstaff supportingthe index and passing rearwardly through the dial, a

pressure responsive element behind the-dial, I connections, also behindthe dial, fortrans mitting movement from the pressure responsive elementto the mdex 'stafif, and means disposed in front of the dial forretarding'the dex,1neans for transmitting movement from index after apredetermined pressure 1s reached. 7

5. A retard pressure gauge having a Bourdon tube, a gauge movement, adial in front of. the tube and gauge movement, a movable index in frontof the dial, said index receiving its motion from the gauge movement,and

means in front of the dial for retarding therate of movement of theindex when a predetermined pressure is reached.

6. A; retard pressure gauge having a Bour-. don tube, a dial, a moveableindex in front of the dial, a gauge movement behind the dial fortransmit-ting movements of the tube to the".v

index, and a yielding abutment in front of the; dial engageable by theindex, when a predetermined pressure is reached, for retarding thefurther movement of the index.

7. A retard pressure gauge having a pressure responsive element, a dial,a movable index, means for transmitting movement from the pressureresponsive element to the index,

and means carried by the dial and engageable by the'index for retardingfurther movement of the-index when a predetermined pressure hasbeenreached. I 8. A retard pressuregauge'naving a pressure responsiveelement, a dial, a movable. in-

the pressure responsive element to the index, and a spring membersecured at one end to the dial and having its free end CllSPOSBCl' inthe path of movement oft-he index, said' spring member permittingsubstantial further movement of the index after engagement therewith. 9.A retard pressure gauge having a presand. adapted to engage an indexmovable over the scale. v v p .11. A dial for pressure gauges having ascale thereon, said scale having differently graduated portions, and aspring finger secured to the dial with a portion thereof disposed at thejunction of said differently graduated portions and adapted to be en- 7gaged by'an index movingover the scale.

121A pressure gauge having a pressure responsive element, a' movableindex, con nections for transmitting movement of; the pressureresponsive element to the index, and

'meansjsuccessively .cngageable by the index at predetermined pressuresrespectively, for additlvely opposing resistancefor retarding furthermovement of the index.

13. A pressure. gauge having a pressure I ,responsiveelement, a movableindex, connections for transmitting movementof the pres sure responsiveelement to the index, and

plurality ofyieldingabutment members successively engageable with theindex at predetermined pressures respectively,i foropposing resistanceto retard further movement of' the index. Y 1. I

14. A pressure gauge having pressure responsiveelement, a movable index,connections" for transmitting movement of'the" pressure responsiveelement to the index, and

a pair or vieicnng abutment members with one of which the index engagesWhena predetern'uned point lnthe movem ntfof the index in one directionhas been reached, and i withthe other of which the index engages when apredetermined point in themovement V of the indexin the oppositedirection hasbeen reached, thereby retarding the ind-ex after apredetermined movement in either direction.

"Signed by me at Bridgeport, Connecticut, this eighth day ofNovember,1927. s I

sure responsive element, a dial, a'niovable index, means fortransmitting. movement from the pressureresponsive element to. the Vindex, and an elongate springfinger fixedly junction of the coarse andfine'graduations gauges having a

